Fading Worlds
by Yumleethelimabean
Summary: Zoey wakes up with the memories of Rythian and Blackrock fading like they were only a dream. With the memory of the destrucion of a familiar-feeling world the only memory that doesn't slip away, she tries to get back to the world she knows, the one she remembers. But is she remembering something real? ON HIATUS
1. In The Old World

_**Hello, this is my second fanfiction, but this on will be a more complex and longer story. Please review I don't own tekkit or the yogscast. Song for this story: State of dreaming by Marina and the Diamonds. Song for this chapter: Meteor shower by owl city. Thanks, bye!**_

Zoey woke up, her head hurting slightly. Standing up, she looked around, not recognizing where she was. It seemed to her that the image of Blackrock, where she had fallen asleep, was already growing hazy, like a half-remembered dream. She tried to grasp for memories of the night before, and had to concentrate before she came up with anything.

She had fallen asleep in the huge bed after a day of working on hacking into the nuke. She vaguely remembered the cold, lonely feeling of the huge bed without Rythian in it. He always slept on the other side anyway, but it was still nice to just have him near. But, why hadn't he been there? He was gone on some short trip, that was it. He had left the day before, and was coming back soon. She had fallen asleep hoping he would come back already.

And that brought her to right now. She didn't know where she was, just that it wasn't...what was the name of the house? Blackrock. It wasn't Blackrock. And she should've been there, right? That was where she lived...

But again, she had that strange fading feeling, like the details were lost, or had never existed.

That wasn't right, of course.

Still not knowing where she was, she looked around once more, taking in her surroundings. She was at the bottom of a hole or something, stone on either side like a wide cave, only she could see blue sky overhead.__

Not knowing what else to do, she climbed. It wasn't hard to find a way up, as the slope wasn't very steep. Up she jumped, block over block. Halfway up, she turned to look back, gasping in surprise. The hole was huge, bigger than a valley, all broken stone. She had only been in a little hole that was part of a bigger crater. A huge, devastating crater.__

What was worse, Zoey could feel something like loss rising up from it, not her own emotion, but like a feeling coming from the stone itself, or a memory of one. The sight in front of her did seem quite disturbing, though, and an emotion of her own welled up inside her, devastation, nostalgia, pain, and more loss than even stone could feel, all rolled into one. And for a fleeting second she thought she recognized this place, but the feeling was gone as soon as it came.__

She was physically worn out from the extreme loss she felt as she looked at the scene, but she kept climbing, still grasping for that small sense of recognition. She climbed with more and more urgency as she neared the lip of the massive valley carved into stone, and-there it was again, a fleeting slice of memory, telling her there had once been something here, or several things. __

She crested the rim of the crater and gasped as she turned in a full circle, taking everything in. There was the huge, crude valley of the crater, and to her other side, another that was even bigger. The remains of a forest stood in front of her, a small copse of burnt blackened stumps that led right to the edge of the crater, indicating a much larger forest once stood. Far in the distance, a crumbled tower, the color of...the place where she lived. It was even harder to remember the name now.__

Then she saw, right on the edge of the trees, a different colored stump, tan and spongy-looking. A mushroom.__

All at once, she was enfulged in flame, her mushrooms gone. Fire, arrows, and destruction raining from the sky in all directions, so she couldn't escape any longer. She called for help, but no help came. Only fire. Weighed down by pain and confusion, she fell to the ground. She tried to get up and stumbled, taking two steps towards the forest before falling again. This time she didn't get up.__

She gasped and suddenly she was standing on the edge of the crater again. She felt dizzy and nearly fell over, tumbling into the canyon. She regained her balance and looked back at the stump of a once great mushroom, but this time no memory came.__

She took a step forward, and the moment she did so the world slowed down and color faded till everything was dull. The crater was gone and she saw the whole forest, lush and green. The tower in the distance was standing, huge and black. A mushroom village stood at the edge of the forest and she saw a redheaded girl talking to someone, showing them around. __

Then off in the distance she saw two figures flying through the air in slow motion, shooting at eachother. As she looked on, unable to move, the first tongue of flame hit a tree in the forest. It spread quickly, and Zoey saw the girl begin to panic, which looked strange with time slowed down. The flying figures passed over head, one wearing goggles and a white lab coat, the other a space suit. They shot more fire, and soon the mushrooms were ablaze, along with the other person and the girl. Zoey watched in horror as the flames licked at the redhead girl in slow motion until she disappeared.__

Then everything sped up until it seemed everything was happening at once. The black tower crumbled, and she saw someone fall burning from the sky. She choked. She knew the person, she was sure, but she didn't recognize them or remember a name.__

The two people still sped through the sky, locked in battle, destroying everything. She saw the one with goggles land near her and place something down on the ground, where a large wooden mansion stood with rails carrying minecarts from one place to another. He flew up into the air and shot fire at the thing he had placed, before flying far away.__

Zoey had just enough time to feel a sick, cold dread in the pit of her stomach before the whole world went white. She was thrown up into the air, higher than the flying figures had been, moving once again in slow motion. Finally, when she thought she could go no higher, she stopped ascending. And so she fell.__

As she fell she could see once again the huge crater and the destroyed forest. Another explosion went off somewhere nearby as the color completely drained from the scene, but the world was already fading, and so was Zoey.


	2. In The New World

**_For Rythian's house, imaging Sips_ and Sjin's house at the beginning of their tekkit series. If you haven't seen their series, you should, but just use your imagination. Please Review!_**

Chapter 2

Zoey opened her eyes to find she was still falling. Far below she saw the faint image of something that could've been grassy hills and a lake, but she wasn't sure.

"Wahhh! Okay! Okay! Okay!" She cried as she fell. She hit the cold water surprisingly softly.  
She was shaking herself off, standing up in waist deep water, when she heard a voice.

"Zoey? Where the hell did you come from?"

She looked up. It was Rythian! Finally, she was home. Whatever had just happened was weird, but at least now things were normal again. Relatively.

"I don't know." She said. She waded to shore.

"Well, that's weird." Rythian said.

"Yeah, it is." She paused. "Where did you and Ravs go? Did you see Minty?" She asked

"What? Who's Ravs?"

Then she suddenly realized where she was. This is where she had fallen from the sky and become Rythian's apprentice. Was she experiencing another memory? But this wasn't right. Rythian was supposed to say, "Well, Duncan and Sjin blew up the old world, and I don't intend to let them get away with it. So, are you in?"

Rythian's eyes widened. She realized she had said the last part out loud. "Revenge?" Rythian frowned. "Hmm...I guess we could get revenge. They did blow us up, didn't they? But I don't know..."

"But wait..." Zoey began, confused. "You were supposed to say...You didn't say that last time..." _What's going on? _She wondered.

"What? Last time? What do you mean?" Rythian asked, looking at her closely.

"Never mind. Do you have a house?" Zoey asked, hoping that _that _at least was the same as last time.

"Um, yeah. This way." Rythian said, leading her over the hill.

The walked for a short distance, before coming over a final hill. Zoey's heart sank and she gasped out loud at what she saw.

The house had a cobblestone frame which was filled in with wood and wide windows. The roof was made out of wooden stairs so it was slanted. It wasn't made of dirt.

"Do you like it? Sjin built it for me. He's a really good builder, you know." Rythian said

"But...he blew up the old world. He killed us all. Aren't you mad?" Zoey asked, heart sinking even further.

"Well, it's in the past, isn't it? He said sorry. And so did Duncan." Rythian said, in a reasonable tone.

Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong. "Rythian, are you feeling alright?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Rythian looked at her closely once more. "Zoey, you look really pale. Maybe you should lie down. Here, I have a bed inside. Come on." Rythian motioned towards the house, and when she didn't move, he grabbed her hand and dragged a very dazed Zoey inside.

Inside the front door she saw a chest, a crafting table and a furnace leaning against one wall. Nothing more.

He led her upstairs to where she saw a bed and a chest leaning against one wall. He placed a bed down on the other side of the T shaped room. "You lay down. I'm going to go downstairs to make some food." With that, he headed down the staircase, leaving Zoey staring after him with disbelief and the beginnings of horror.


	3. In The Real World

_**Hello once again! I'd apologize for the long wait, but I'm not actually sure anyone is waiting. For some reason, though there have been over a hundred views, almost no one has reviewed. It kind of has me worried that my story sucks. Could you please review and tell me what I'm doing wrong, or what you'd like to see in the story? That would be wonderful. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy! And if you don't tell me why. Adios!**_

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Chapter 3

Zoey lay down, miserable. Rythian was different. She didn't necessarily like his constant talk of revenge, but to have him acting this strangely was terrible. She didn't know where she was. Some kind of alternate universe? She had to get home, and soon. Wouldn't Rythian be worried if he came home and found her missing? God, what if he found Blackrock empty and thought she left again?

She turned onto her side and looked out the window. The sun was sinking lower in the sky and dusk was settling in. This house faced the same way as Blackrock, so out the window she had a view of the lake and the snowy forest beside it. The snowy forest that held baby Jim, where they had gotten the material for Blackrock.

And possibly worst of all: Downstairs when she had come in she hadn't seen any magic. Not even a condenser. That made her want to cry.

Where was she? Why had this happened? Was this all just a dream? Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could wake up, back in her bed in blackrock. Then she could go and keep working on the nukes.

The nukes! If she didn't get back, who would get rid of them? Rythian couldn't do it without her!

She closed her eyes as tight as she could and pulled the blanket up over her head, blocking out sound and light. Then she felt herself sinking...

When she opened her eyes she saw Rythian, peering at her curiously. It worked! She was back home! It had all been just a dream!

Then as she blinked and sat up, she realized she was in the bed in Rythian's house. She hadn't woken up, she had fallen asleep! And Rythian was still looking at her with something like concern on his face.

"Zoey? Are you alright? You kept thrashing around in your sleep. You actually fell on the floor. I had to lift you back onto the bed."

Zoey blinked, confused. She hadn't had any dreams, let alone dreams that would make her fall off the bed. Then it came flooding back to her, and she suddenly remembered; She had dreamed of the world being destroyed again. She knew it was important, although she didn't know why.

"Um. Sorry about that." She said lamely, staring at him, holding on to the tiniest hope she was really back at Blackrock, even though her eyes told the plain truth.

"Do you want something to eat? I have some steak." Rythian offered, going over to a chest by his bed and sorting through it as he talked. "Later I think Sjin is coming over to help me make a quarry. First I have to go mining though, to get some diamonds to make the quarry and tin for pipes and stuff."

For some reason anger bubbled up inside Zoey. She sat up angrily and then stood up. She marched over to Rythian. "No, Sjin is not coming over, you are not going mining for materials when you could have a perfectly good condenser, and you are not doing science!" she was yelling by the end, and she stood back and looked at him, breathing heavily. He stared at her in surprise, then opened his mouth as if to say something, but she interrupted him.

"Do you have any diamonds? Good. What about obsidian? Well, why not? Okay, we'll have to get some." She struggled to remember her training. "We also need an alchemical chest...oh, lets just start with the basics. We'll need to go mining. Please tell me you at least have a diamond pickaxe? Good. It's nothing compared to your red matter tools, but it will have to do. I don't suppose you have a alchemical bag...we'll have to go without one."

She motioned for Rythian to follow her down stairs towards the mineshaft she had seen the previous day, and he did, speechless. She grabbed a diamond pickaxe from a chest and went down the ladder.

The ladder went down a little ways down before stopping in a shallow cave. Zoey began digging a staircase down. "This is a little small, but we'll widen it later, once we have dark matter tools. Come on."

Rythian followed her down the mineshaft, still speechless. Zoey grimaced. It was going to take forever before things were back to normal.


	4. In The Strange World

**_Hey guys, here's chapter 4. Thanks so much to 2 people for reviewing, please enjoy! I don't own the Yogscast, Tekkit, Minecraft, or anything really, except this silly little laptop from like 2005. She's slow and I can't watch YouTube but she does her work alright, she's been a great friend, and she's always there for me. Except when there's no internet connection. Yeah, I need a life. Anyways, bye! Oh, and please review! Tell me if you want more!_****_ I'm not posting the next chapter till I get 3 reviews, so please review. Please. Please._**

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Chapter 4

Zoey was having trouble remembering everything Rythian had taught her, but after going back upstairs once or twice for materials, she managed to make a divining rod without too much trouble. She tapped the walls with it, wishing she had a destruction catalyst, until-

"Diamonds!" Rythian said triumphantly, mining them out. Zoey thought of what he had said the first time they had gone mining together. She could almost see the scene in her head.  
"We aren't actually super excited about diamonds, we have dark matter." He had said.

She had replied with, "Can I be super excited about diamonds?"

"Sure," He had said, giving her the diamonds while she jumped up and down calling, "Yay, diamonds!"

"I hear diamonds are a girls best friend anyway..."

Zoey smiled sadly at the memory. That was so long ago. Now she felt a million times older, and it was like Rythian was her apprentice now.

"Zoey? What are you doing?" She realized she had been smiling at the ground, lost in thought.

"It's seems like we have everything we need now, so we can head back up." His voice had some of the old authority it usually did. That was how it always was: he was the leader, she was the follower, his apprentice. Except when it came to things like her mushrooms, or baby Jim, or anything else not related to magic.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Lets go." She looked at the steep ravine walls high above. "I wish we had our flying rings...Oh well, we'll have to dig a staircase."

They began digging, and soon (well, relatively soon) they were at the top of the ravine. Zoey led the way out of the mine and back up into the house.

"What's that?" she paused in the middle of putting some emeralds away to peer out the window. "It looks like a person."

Rythian went over to the window and looked out towards the marsh. "It looks like... Sjin." He said after a moment.

"We'll have to get rid of him." Zoey said, turning back to the chest.

"Why? What has he ever done?"

"Rythian! Listen, he blew up the old world, burned down everything, killed you, me, and everyone else! We are not his friend. We're his enemies, get it?" Zoey practically yelled in frustration, angrily placing down a condenser. "Don't you remember?"

Rythian looked puzzled. Then confused. Finally he looked up at her as if coming out of a daze, a hard expression on his face. "Yeah... I remember. I had forgotten because this new world is so peaceful. But it won't stay peaceful forever, will it? When I was at Sips co I saw all the machines they had built. It won't be long before they start building bombs, will it?"

Zoey stared in disbelief. That was quick. He had changed his mind fast. Too fast. What was going on here? "Rythian..." She said slowly, "Wait, did you say you were at Sips co?" Her mind was racing. He nodded. "Do you remember everything that happened there?"

"Yeah, of course. We...they...built sorting machines and then..." He looked confused. " I...can't remember. I really just can't remember."

"I think they might have done something to you while you were there, something to make you forget about what Sjin has done, something to make you forget about magic. He must've been worried that you would become powerful again and get revenge."

"That actually makes a lot of sense. He was pretending to be so friendly. That bastard." Rythian muttered. "Okay, so we've got a condenser, but we really should make a power flower soon."

Zoey looked at him for a second. "You remember! You remember magic!" She said happily, resisting the urge to hug him. "Great, because I was beginning to run out of knowledge; I kinda forgot a lot of stuff."

"Well, I could teach you about magic. You could be my apprentice." He said, and Zoey laughed.

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that. I wonder why?" She replied, as if thinking of an inside joke.

"Hello? Is anyone there? It's Sjin." A voice said, pronouncing the "j" in "Sjin" unlike everybody else. Zoey looked through the door, a man in a space suit was standing outside, knocking on the door. Zoey smiled mischievously at Rythian before opening the door.

"Hello, I'm here to help with the-" He was cut off as Zoey attacked, killing him with a few swift blows from a newly crafted green sword. He disappeared and she turned back to Rythian, smiling evilly. "Revenge is fun."

Rythian laughed, then motioned to the sword in her hand. "What's that? Where did you get it?"

Zoey smiled. "Oh, this? This is Super Jim."


	5. In The Magic World

**Well I got three reviews, so thanks! Hope you like it, and remember to review if you want more!**

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Chapter 5

Things were normal-ish around soon to be Blackrock, Zoey decided, but she still didn't get what the heck was going on. Was the other Blackrock just some sort of dream, and had she gone crazy? Was this just a dream? But then, how did she already know everything that was going to happen?

She asked herself these questions everyday as Rythian taught her about power flowers and dark matter and Philosopher's stones. She tried to pay attention, she really did. It's just that magic was kind of boring.

"Zoey? Zoey? Are you even listening?" Rythian asked, looking up from what he was currently showing her.

"Yeah, but I was just thinking, we need some mushrooms!" She said, suddenly thinking of the cool mushroom village in the old world.

Rythian sighed. "Okay, fine, can go get mushrooms. I don't think I want you to know how to make a destruction catalyst anyway. That could be dangerous."

"Yay! Mushrooms!" Zoey ran off into the forest, not looking where she was going, really. She nearly ran into a pig and stopped quickly, almost losing her balance. She considered the pig for a second, before taking out her philosopher's stone. She didn't exactly know how the glowing red stone worked, but she remembered Rythian creating a mooshroom one time using one. She tried it on the pig, turning him into a sentry, which stared at her. She quickly changed it again, this time getting a chicken. Then a sheep. Then a pig again. Then a wolf. Finally, a mooshroom was standing in front of her, mooing. She jumped up and down happily.

"Rythian, look!" She called back to where said mage was following behind a bit more slowly. "Look! A mooshroom!"

Rythian emerged into the clearing and looked at it. "Okay, that thing is actually really creepy. What does it do?"

Zoey pulled out a bowl and milked the mooshroom. "It makes mushroom stew!" She said triumphantly.

"Okay, that's just weird." Rythian said. "Aren't we looking for mushrooms though?"

"We can't just leave her here! She's my friend!" Zoey protested.

"We'll pick her up on the way back, okay?" He sighed.

"Okay. That's fine." Zoey said, going into the trees once more.

The two collected mushrooms all afternoon, and when they got back home, Rythian placed a brown mushroom down just to see if it would work. Instantly Zoey was freaking out.

"No, no, Rythian, he can't be the first mushroom, it has to be Barry! Barry is the king!"

If patience were money, Rythian would be rich.

* * *

The man moved swiftly through the night, barely feeling the cold wind. He was on business, and this business was too important for him to waste any time.

He crested a steep hill and walked briskly down the other side, the land now flatter in front of him. To the right he could hear the ocean, not far off. The moon had passed it's highest point, which he noted with satisfaction. It was best to do this sort of thing in the darkest hours of the night when he wouldn't be expecting him. Otherwise he might attack before they got a chance to talk. It was better if he caught him off guard. After all, they didn't have the best history.

He could make out the beginnings of a huge white building, and as he got closer smaller buildings near its base came into view. He quickened his pace, tempted to turn on his jet pack but decided against it. He was much less noticeable this way.

He had nearly reached the building by now, but instead of going into the compound, which was surrounded by a basalt brick and iron fence wall, he turned left and continued on, now walking parallel to the factory. He soon left it far behind.

After trudging through grasslands for a mile or two, the outline of a huge castle became visible in the distance. He finally turned on his jet pack and sped towards it, touching down outside a huge gate. He rang the bell and waited.

"Well, well, well, what have we got here? What do you want?" A cold voice said behind him.

The man turned around. "Good evening. I have some information I think you'll want." He replied.

"What is it?" The scientist asked suspiciously.

"It's regarding our little war, or more accurately, those who want revenge for what happened to the old world. If you're interested."

"What exactly is the problem?"

"You remember a certain mage who we were afraid would cause trouble? He's doing just that. And he's got allies."

The scientist motioned towards the castle. "Won't you come inside? I have a feeling we have a lot to discuss before daylight."

Without a word, the Sips co. employee followed him.


	6. In The Dangerous World

**_Waahhh! Oh, hello again! Didn't see you there! I'm posting 'cause I got 4 reviews, and since I actually love posting new chapters, I post as soon as I get 3 reviews. I posted chapter 5 yesterday! Jesus, people! But, like I said, I love writing and posting this story, and since the chapters are kinda short, I really don't mind. Still, I can barely keep up. So, I'll post chapter 7 if I get 5 reviews on chapter 6. So review if you read this story! Even if they're bad reviews. I don't care! Flame me if you want! No, just kidding, please don't. Aha, I'm rambling again! Sorry! Enjoy!_**

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Chapter 6

Zoey decided it was time to make Blackrock into Blackrock. So when she woke up one sunny morning, she went downstairs to look for a destruction catalyst to destroy the current house, like Rythian had done before. She was just pulling one out of the chest when she realized how hungry she was. She quickly ate a bowl of mushroom stew, then put the bowl away in a chest before heading outside with her destructive magical item.

She destroyed a small bit of the house in front of her, but wanted to get rid of more. She charged it with some glowstone she had also taken from the chest and with one motion destroyed half the house.

She felt like she was forgetting something, though. She couldn't remember what until-

"Ahh! What the hell is going on?! Zoey!" Rythian! Rythian was still upstairs, asleep, or he used to be, before half the house disappeared.

"Ooh. Sorry Rythian!" She called, then tried to explain. "See, I wanted to get rid of the house so we can build a new one." She said nervously.

"Why would you do that? You can't just destroy our house! Especially when I'm still inside it! I knew I shouldn't have left a destruction catalyst lying around!" Rythian said angrily. Luckily he had been on the side of the house that hadn't disappeared.

"I just wanted to have a cooler house. Yay! New house! Yay! Whoo..." She trailed off as Rythian finally gave up looking for a way down since the stairs were now missing and jumped.

"Well now you need to fix this somehow. I'll help." He sighed, going over and surveying the damage. "You better give me that. We don't want you destroying anything else." He said, motioning to the destruction catalyst.

"Here, can I go get a better material for our house? I know where it is! And I only need one block since I can condense it." Zoey said, hoping he wasn't too mad.

"I don't know. I don't trust you to not burn down the whole forest! I mean, you didn't even think things through, you just took something and destroyed half our house! How can I ever show you anything dangerous?" Rythian said.

"Fine. I always mess things up. I'm terrible at magic!" Zoey said, whirling around and stalking off to her mooshroom pen to angrily feed the mooshroom some wheat.

Rythian sighed and followed her, calming down. "Fine, Zoey, you can go get whatever you want. I'm sorry. Just be careful, okay?"

She turned around "Alright. I really am sorry. Really, you won't regret me doing this. Our house is going to look so cool!" And Zoey turned and headed off into the snowy forest, in the direction of baby Jim.

* * *

His monitors had showed her leaving the house. He now flew quickly, his flying ring allowing him to travel over grasslands and oceans and forests towards his destination with amazing speed. Soon he would be there, and just in time.

He and his former enemy had talked a long time, plotting and planning. All their hard work would pay off if it would help defeat their common enemy. And the first step was in action now.

He had almost reached the rendezvous spot, the volcano near Sips co. From there they would fly low until they reached the snowy forest. Then they would wait.

It sounded so evil, even in his head. He almost laughed out loud.

* * *

Zoey walked slowly through the forest, enjoying the quiet, peaceful day. She was happy that Blackrock would soon become like the one in her memory, or whatever it had been. She didn't think it was a dream, because that would be just too weird.

She was close to baby Jim now. She could see the frozen lake ahead of her through the trees. Looking up she was startled to see it was already late afternoon. She quickened her pace, anxious to get home before dark, as she didn't really have any weapons on her.

As she began to cross the lake snow began to fall, the soft white flakes landing on her hair. She stopped to catch a few on her tongue and twirl around, feeling like a figure skater. The she ran, sliding across the ice until she reached the shore. She pushed her way through a small thicket of pine trees before reaching the volcano.

Baby Jim was bubbling warmly and she walked over to say hi before pulling out her pick. She bent down to mine a block but stopped when she heard a small rustling noise behind her. She decided after a moment that it was just a squirrel and went back to mining.

The block popped into her inventory and she stood up, turning around. She nearly screamed.

Standing between her and the lake were two men, each clad in nano armor and brandishing diamond swords. One smiled, but it wasn't a friendly smile. It was a cold threatening smile.

"Good evening Zoey." She recognized the voice, but she couldn't put her finger on who it belonged two. Under his helmet she could make out green eyes.

"U-um, lovely talking to you, but I really must be on my way." She said nervously, trying to step around her. The second man stepped forward and grabbed her arm, holding his sword to her throat.

"Here's what's going to happen Zoey: You're going to come with us. You're going to come quietly. We're going to ask you some questions. Then eventually, we'll kill you."


	7. In The Captive World

**_Hey! I just finished watching the Tekkit Rebirth 16, and after two weeks of waiting while the Yogscast tekkit server was down and all, I have to say...It was amazing! It was short, but not only did it have Zoey, but it had NILESY! And chickens! Zoey was playing the lever game! And Ravs was playing the lever game with a chicken, till Teep killed it! If you haven't seen it, go watch it! Okay, I'll stop rambling on now. Wait, I have to talk about the story! _****  
****_So, I got 6 reviews. Damn! I can't keep up! So, if I'll post chapter 8 if I get 10 Reviews. 10 REVIEWS. Maybe that will give me a bit more time. Alright, read, review, and enjoy. Well, I hope you enjoy, in any case! I can't tell you how to feel!_**

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Chapter 7

It was cold here. So, so cold. And bright. There were always lights on, cold,artificial lights that hurt her eyes, nothing like the warm glow of the torches at home.

She didn't know where she was. She had thought that she would memorize the way home and escape somehow, but when they had picked her up and carried her away she had tried to call for help and the one with green eyes had hit her on the head with the flat of his sword, making everything go black.

She had woken up here, in this room with walls made of reinforced stone. She saw no door, only the bright white lights above, and a window in one wall through which she could see a dark, empty corridor.

Her head hurt, and she crawled over to the tiny window and peeked out, hoping to see...something. But nothing could help her now. There was no way out.

Suddenly, a bright light lit up the hallway. She quickly scrambled back and crouched in the corner, shivering.

A shadow passed in front of the window. She heard the sound of a code being punched in, then of pistons moving. A doorway appeared in the wall next to the window. A man stepped through.

He wasn't wearing his armor anymore, just a long white lab coat. A pair of goggles perched on his blonde hair. It was the one with the green eyes, and this time she recognized him.

"Lalna!" She gasped, rising shakily to her feet. "Where am I? Why are you doing this? Let me go!"

"Can't do that Zoey. Sorry." He laughed, not a cold menacing laugh, but an actual amused laugh. He pulled a chair into the room and sat down, facing her.

"So, how are you? You must be hungry. You poor thing! I'll have a talk with Sjin about treating you better. Look, you don't even have a bed!" Lalna placed one down in the corner, then sat back down. "There. Now, why don't you sit down, and we can talk."

Zoey sat down on the bed, for the first time realizing how exhausted she was. She glared at the scientist.

"What do you want?"

"Zoey, I've told you, I just want to talk. I need to ask you some questions, and have a friendly chat. We need to catch up. I haven't seen you since that unfortunate...accident during the war. How are you?"

"Oh, fine. I just love being kidnapped and imprisoned! I'm having a lovely day, how about you?" She said sarcastically, glaring at him.

He smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Zoey, it had to be done. We don't want anyone causing trouble. Everything in this new world is peaceful. We want it to stay that way. Don't you see that peace is better than war?"

"Yeah, because kidnapping and killing an innocent person is definitely peaceful!" She yelled, standing up.

Lalna laughed, not at all phased. "No, no, no, Zoey, you've got it all wrong. Of course we're not going to kill you! What do you think I am, a monster? Sjin was just being a bit dramatic, that's all. Don't worry, we'll eventually let you go. Of course, you won't be going back to Rythian. That simply won't do! You've already caused so much trouble as it it, trying to start fights!" Lalna got up, closing the opening in the wall, which had been open. He sat back down and began to talk very quickly in a low voice.

"Zoey, I want to help you, I really do. Sjin wants to cause trouble for everyone and start a war, but I just want everything to be peaceful. I'm on your side, I really am. I don't want you to start angering people like Rythian. He's dangerous and unpredictable. You can't trust him, Zoey. But you can trust me. I'm still your friend. I'm on your side. That's why I've done this. I've rescued you from danger. You're safe here, I swear. You have to trust me, I want to help." His voice was sincere, his eyes pleading. Zoey was having none of it.

"Trust you?" She laughed. "As if! You've kidnapped me and imprisoned me here! Rythian is not dangerous, and I can trust him! You're insane if you think I'm going to listen to you!" She yelled.

"That's too bad." The scientist sighed. "I tried to warn you. I didn't want to tell you Zoey. I didn't want you to get hurt. But I guess I have to. I know Rythian can't be trusted, because Rythian is here, and he's already told us everything. Right away he told us it was all your fault, that you had come to him and tried to convince him to get revenge on us. He said you threatened him and so he had to agree. Of course I don't believe him, though. I know you're not like that, Zoey." He reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She shook him off.

"Get out!" She screamed. "Stop lying and get out!"

Lalna shook his head sadly and turned to leave, inserting a key into a small hole in the wall she hadn't noticed before. The wall slid away. Just as he was about to close the opening behind him, the scientist turned to her one last time. "You can trust me Zoey. I'm on your side." he said, smiling sadly. She ran towards the doorway, determined to punch him or hurt him somehow, but the opening closed before she reached him, leaving her trapped in the cold room once more.


	8. In The Mad World

**_Ah! Whew! Hello. So much writing, so little time! Sunday is my writing day. How are you all? Good, good. Sorry, it's been over a week, I was kinda...well, let's just say after what happened in Rebirth 17, I didn't feel like writing. But 18 made it better! I'll make this chapter extra long. I didn't get 10 reviews, but I was like "Ah, what the heck?" and so I'm posting the next chapter because I hadn't in a while. Yeah, here you go! Enjoy! Review please. I'll post the next chapter if I get 5 reviews!_**

* * *

Chapter 8

He had been searching. Searching for so long. Was it days? Weeks? Years? He couldn't remember. But he had been searching for so long. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't. What was he searching for again? Oh, yes. Her. She was gone. He would find her.

Where was he? Not home. No. Where was home? That way. Behind him. Or to the side. It didn't matter. He had to keep searching. He would find her, yes, and then they would go home. He smiled dreamily at the thought.

He stopped. What was that over there? A tree. He laughed at it, a tree in the middle of a grassland. Silly tree. Maybe it was lost too. But no other tree could come looking for it, because trees couldn't walk. Could they? No, no. They couldn't. He was sure.

It was windy and rainy tonight, but he barely noticed. He had to keep walking. He always did. He had been everywhere, or at least everywhere around here. Where was here? It was always the same. She wasn't here. Where was she? She should be here. Or there. She should be somewhere, but she wasn't. Where was she?

What was that? Something in the grass. Something laying down. Someone laying down. He saw...red hair. Red hair! She had red hair, didn't she? He ran over, kneeling in the grass next to the person.

It was her! He smiled. He had found her. Now they could go home! But why wasn't she moving? She should be happy, the searching was over. He could sleep, he could stop walking! But something was wrong. Why wasn't she getting up?

That was when he noticed the blood. All over her. She was laying in a puddle of it. He reached over and grabbed her bare arm, trying to move her. A piece of rotting flesh came off in his hand, revealing white bone. He saw clearly what the darkness had masked. Her hair was matted with blood and dirt. Her eyes were gone, leaving empty sockets staring at him. part of the flesh on her face had worn away, revealing grinning teeth. Maggots crawled in and out of her rotting skin.

He stared at her. He wanted to scream. Instead, he laughed, the laugh of a person gone truly insane. He sat there next to the rotting corpse, his laugh echoing into the night.

* * *

Rythian sat straight up in bed, the terror of his nightmare still lingering. He was covered in cold sweat, and he was breathing heavily. It was the nightmare again. He kept having it, more and more lately.

He looked out the window. It was still dark out, and it looked like it would be few hours till dawn. He sighed and swung his feet over the side of the bed. There was no way he would be able to go back to sleep now.

He went downstairs. He had repaired the house so that it was normal again. One thing about the nightmare had been true; He was searching for Zoey. But he hadn't gone insane, and he didn't think he would. He had looked all through the forest when she had first disappeared, and all of the surrounding area.

Rythian had noticed when Zoey hadn't returned. At first he thought she had just gotten distracted by mushrooms or something and had gone back to condensing diamonds. But as it continued to get dark he began to get worried. What if she had gotten lost, or hurt? The moon had risen by the time he took his new dark matter sword and went to look for her.

Rythian had moved had through the snowy forest, searching for any sign of her. He looked until the moon had reached it's highest point, but had found nothing other than a few footprints under a tree; any other footprints he might have found had disappeared underneath a new layer of fresh snow.

Rythian paced back on the moonlit first floor, which he had expanded to fit his condenser and power flower. It had been nearly a month since she had disappeared, yet he wasn't giving up. Everyday since then he had gone looking for her, in the mountains, the forest, even the jungle. She had only been his apprentice for a couple of months, yet he had grown sort of...attached to her, if that was the right word for it. Enough that he spent all his time worrying about her, so much that he almost didn't notice how much he missed her.

The nightmare kept coming back as the time went on and he had fewer and fewer places to look and fewer and fewer chances of finding her. But he couldn't give up.

That she had been killed was an impossible thought to comprehend, so he ignored it and the fear it brought with it, instead deliberately thinking of other bad, but so much better possibilities. He had considered that Sjin could have kidnapped her as revenge for injuring him before, but he had gone to Sjin's base and looked all around it while Sips_ and Sjin were at Honeydew Inc., and he had found no trace of her.

**(A/N Let's pretend she never killed Sjin, for the story's sake. She injured him and dragged him off into the forest. He woke up and made his way back to Sips co., wanting revenge, on Zoey in particular. He healed and went to talk to Lalna.)**

Suddenly he found it impossible to stay still anymore. He quickly grabbed his new red matter sword before and headed out into the moonlit forest.

It wasn't long before he found himself crossing the frozen lake, the glow from the volcano visible through the trees. He felt the warmth as he pushed his way through the trees and into the clearing.

Rythian looked around, not sure why he had come here, before collapsing in defeat onto the black stone. He looked down at the rock he was sitting on. Basalt. Maybe that's what Zoey had gone into the forest to get. He couldn't imagine her coming in here for wood. He got up and walked over to the trees and kicked a rock in frustration. Why couldn't he think of anything?

Suddenly something caught his eye. He wouldn't have noticed it, because it was once white, but lying under leaves and rocks had turned it a dirty brownish color, making it stand out against the black rocks and white snow. He leaned down and picked it up. It was a piece of fabric, once white, as big as his hand.

Rythian frowned. As far as he knew, no one had been in this forest but him and Zoey. And neither of them had any white clothes. The only person he knew who had wore white was Lalna. Lalna had been here!

But what reason would Lalna have for hurting Zoey? As far as he knew, Rythian wasn't a threat. Unless...unless Sjin had gone to talk to him. In which case it made perfect sense.

Rythian jumped up and ran for home. He had an idea of what happened to Zoey, and he was going to find her, and seriously hurt whoever was responsible.

* * *

Sjin wasn't wasting time on manners this time. Instead of going to the gates like he usually did he flew straight over the walls of the castle, landing in the small courtyard. He made his way through the castle until he arrived at a staircase leading down. He made his way down the stairs, around corners and along vacant hallways until he reached the cell. He peeked inside. She was asleep, and he saw someone had left her some food. Probably Lalna.

He typed the code into the computer and stepped back as the pistons moved away to create an opening, which he stepped through into the room.

She lifted her head, her red hair messy and unkempt. Her eyes were blank for a moment before they filled with recognition and anger.

"Hello Zoey." Sjin said, sounding bored.

"What do you want?" She asked, but it sounded more like a line for a play than an actual question, repeated over and over again until it lost it's meaning.

"You know what I want. I want information."

"I've told you everything I know." She growled impatiently.

"I want to know what Rythian is planning." Sjin said.

"You ask me that everyday! I've told you! You must be really stupid if you can't get it through your head that he's only just begun to make anything. When you kidnapped me he was trying to make simple magical items. You really think we had any time to develop elaborate plots?" Zoey yelled, looking like she wished she had a sword or even a block of stone to hit him on the head and make him shut up.

"I don't believe you. But don't worry. We have plenty of time to break you." He smiled maliciously and exited the room. He could see her slump defeatedly on her bed.

Now he had to find Lalna, but something stopped him. Something Zoey had said…"Simple magical items?" He smiled to himself and quickly left the castle, flying as he thought through the new plan forming in his head.

* * *

Zoey opened a book from the bookshelf Lalna had brought her to keep her from getting bored. He had been nice to her, bringing her things, giving her food, and even moving her to a bigger room. But it didn't change the fact that he was imprisoning her all the same. She had figured out that wherever she was must've been Lalna's house, because Sjin came less frequently and when he did he always looked like he had been traveling.

She looked up at the sound of pistons; It was Lalna again, and he was carrying food. He set down a bowl of mushroom stew before closing the door behind him. Then he sat down near Zoey.

"How are you today?" He asked kindly, smiling.

"Fine." She sighed. She had long since given up yelling at him, it did no good. Excepting his friendliness with a quiet apathy seemed to make him go away sooner.

"Good. Did Sjin speak to you today?"

"Yes."

"Sorry about that. If it were up to me you wouldn't even be here."

"Yeah right. You expect me to believe you kidnapped and imprisoned me because you wanted me to be free? If you want to let me go, then let me go!" Zoey said, growing annoyed.

"Zoey, you have to believe me, the only reason you're here is because Sjin want to keep you here."

"Then why not keep me somewhere nicer? I hate it in here, and it's boring." Zoey said.

"What do you want me to do? I can bring you more things to keep you occupied." Lalna offered.

Zoey's mind lit up, and a plan developed in her head. She could use his friendliness to her advantage. "Can I have...a computer?" She asked, like the idea had just come to her.

Lalna looked uncertain. "I don't know Zoey...we can't have you contacting anyone."

Zoey grew angry; A minute ago he was saying he wanted to let her go and now he was saying she couldn't contact anyone! He was ridiculous! She pushed down her anger and instead rolled her eyes.

"Come on Lalna, Rythian hates science. He wouldn't have a computer within five miles of his house! And if he did, he would destroy it." She rolled her eyes again, this time to emphasize how silly Rythian was.

Lalna still looked uncertain. "Look, there's no way I can contact anyone for help, and even if I did, how would they know where I was? I can't tell them how to get here, since I don't even know myself." She pointed out in a reasonable tone.

Lalna looked indecisive for a moment more before he said,"Okay. If that will make you more comfortable here."

"Thank you." Zoey said in a friendly voice. Lalna stood up.

"I have to go. I'll bring you a computer later." He walked to the door and opened it. "Goodbye Zoey."

"Bye." She said, smiling and waving. The doorway closed again and she laid back on her bed, her friendly smile turning into a smirk. She would soon get out of this place.

* * *

**_Ooh. Sorry about the beginning. I was just writing, going along, when suddenly it turned disturbing and insane. I don't know what happened. But that's honestly one of my favorite parts. Hope you enjoyed! Please review!_**


	9. Author's Note

**_Hey, what's up, yognau(gh)ts? You're all going to hate me, but...this isn't chapter 9 of Fading Worlds, it's an authors note. BUT! Chapter 9 will be out very shortly! I promise! First, I have a few things to say._**

**_ I'm so so so so so so sorry for the wait. What has it been, like 3 months? Not okay on my part, not when so many people like this story. I was reading the reviews the other day and so many of you said you loved this story. I felt bad that so many people were asking for chapter 9 and I wasn't giving them what they wanted, and what they deserve._**

**_So, I am announcing that Fading Worlds is coming back! Chapter 9 will be out no later than Monday, and hopefully the updates will be quicker after that. It might be a bit slow at first as I get back into writing this story, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things soon, so to speak._**

**_Thank you to everyone who enjoyed this story, and those who have been waiting all this time._**

**_~Yumlee_**


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